Elastic top hosiery



Aug. 23, 1938. J. MARSHALL ELASTIC TOP HbSIERY Filed July 25, 1936 2Sheets-Sheet l J lw bi A: 5. allln i 4 INVENTOR. /0fin0 nMarslla/l BY .0

J. L. MARSHALL ELASTIC TOP HOSIERY Aug. 23, 1938.

Filed Ju1y 25, 1956 2 sheets-sheet 2 INVEITIOR. ohnlayn/I/asha PatentedAug. 23, 1938 ELASTIC TOP HOSIERY John Loyn Marshall, Chattanooga,Tenn., assignorto United Hosiery Mills Corporation, Chattanooga,'l'enn., a corporation of Tennessee Application July 25, 1936, SerialNo. 92,542

2 Claim.

This invention has to do with hosiery, and is concerned primarily withthat type of hosiery in which the top or cufi portion includes anelastic element to impart garter eilects thereto.

The present invention has in view as its foremost objective theprovision of hosiery'of the type above referred to, which is knit in amanner to provide an appearance efiect in accordance with a certainmodern trend, to be hereinafter discussed in detail, and at the sametime provide a cuff in which an elastic element is incorporated in a.novel manner, to provide improved garter eifects on the part of thecufi.

Largely from the aspect of the appearance of hosiery there is a certaindefinite modern trend which indicates the desirability of the hosieryhaving the appearance of the so-called Italian raised stitch, and thisinvention proposes to follow this trend by availing of acuif in which aplurality of courses of tuck stitches are included therethroughout, andwhich tuck stitches enclose turns of an elastic element whereby theraised stitchv appearance effect is afiorded.

Aside from the appearance eflect above noted, the invention is alsoconcerned with the garter functions which are to be performed by theelastic tuck ribbed cuif. An important object of the present inventionis the provision of hosiery of this type including an elastic tuckribbed cuii' in which an elastic element is arranged spirallytherethroughout, to define a helix of compare tively small pitch, whicharrangement permits of the elastic element being laid in under lighttension, and the entire cull is rendered eflective to a grip the leg ofa wearer over a wide area, to provide the necessary garter eflects underconditions affording the greatest degree of comfort to the wearer.

Prior to this invention there have been proposed certain methods ofknitting an elastic ribbed cuiI along the same general lines aboveindicated, in which a multi-feed knitting machine is employed. However,when a multi-feed knitting machine is availed of for this purpose,-

the elastic inlay is laid in on only one course of the several which areknit by the machine; such an arrangement being common with the use of amulti-feed. machine.

With this arrangement the elastic inlay de- 50 fines a helix of anappreciable pitch, and as a result it is necessary to lay the elasticinlay in under an appreciable degree of tension. This need is entirelyobviated by the present invention, which proposes the use of a so-calledsingle feed knitting machine, and in which there is a turn of theelastic inlay for each regular course of stitches, and in addition aturn of the' inlay for each course of the tuck stitches which may beformed on the dial needles of the machine.

With the use of a single feed knitting machine 6 of the type abovereferred to, which includes cylinder and dial needles, it is possible toform a course of tuck stitches on the dial needles foreach regularcourse or plurality of regular courses of stitches formed, and thepresent invention 10 contemplates including a course of tuck stitchesfor any desired number of regular courses.-

More particularly. the invention has as an object the provision of acourse of tuck stitches as every third course in the elastic tuck ribbedcufi", 15

The invention has in view, as a further object, the provision of hosieryincluding an elastic tuck ribbed cuff of the stitch structure abovereferred to, and in which an elastic element is laid in spirally behindthe plain stitches formed 20 on the cylinder needles, and in front ofthe rib stitches formed on the dial needles; and in which there is aturn of the elastic inlay for each course of regular stitches, and aturn-for each course of the tuck stitches.

In view of the fact that the leg portion proper of hosiery is ordinarilyknit on a single feed machine; the difiiculty of transferring from amulti-feed machine to a single feed machine, which is present when themulti-feed machine is used in the knitting of the cuffs, is entirelyobviated by the present invention, in which the single feed ribber maybe employed to knit the leg portion proper, in addition to the elastictuck ribbed cufi. 5

The greater advantages of the invention, however, lie in the provisionof hosiery in which the cuff provides the raised stitch appearanceefiects, and in which the elastic inlay is under relatively lighttension; the permissibility of the latter be- 4 ing attributed directlyto the narrow pitch oi the helix which is defined by the elastic inlay.

An important phase of the present invention is the method of knitting anelastic cull on a single feed ribber in accordance with the preceptsabove noted; -the method being a part of the invention, as is the cuffitself. a

Various other'more detailed objects and advantages such as arise incarrying out the above noted objects in a'practical manner will in partbecome I apparent, and in part be hereinafter stated, as the descriptionof the invention proceeds.

The invention, therefore, comprises hosiery including an elastic tuckribbed cuiI which is knit 1 and the regular stitches formed on thecylinder needles.

For a full and more complete understanding of the invention, referencemay be had to the following description and accompanying drawings,wherein Figure 1 is a view in elevation of a piece of hosiery made inaccordance with the precepts of this invention. In this view the legportion prop- I er of the hosiery is shown as being of the rib Figure 2is an illustration somewhat diagrammatlcal in nature, bringing out thearrangement of stitches which are knit on the machine to define the tuckribbed cuff. In this view the stitches are shown in an exaggerateddistended position,

,Figure 3 is another showing somewhat diagrammatical in nature, bringingout the relative disposition of the stitches formed on the cylinder anddial needles, and the manner in which the turns of the elastic inlay arelaid in between. This view is taken as a horizontal plan view, with oneof the regular courses ravelled back, the plane of this view beingindicated generally by the line 3-3 of Figure 2,

Figure 4 is an enlarged detailed showing in transverse section of aportion of the cuff, bringing out the stitches in an exaggerateddistending relationship, and

Figure 51s a view similar to Figure 1, showing -a piece of hosiery inwhich the leg portion is knit on a plain knitting machine.

Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference'characters denotecorresponding parts, there shown in Figure 1 a piece of hosiery, such asa child's sock, which is referred to by the reference character ll.While the illustration is indicative of the fact that this sock is ofthe children's type, it is to be understood that the invention is to bein no way limited in this respect, as it may be practiced in connectionwith any type of hosiery.

The sock I0 is shown as formed with a cult II, which is knit on acircular knitting machine commonly known in the art as a single feedribber, and which machine includes the usual cylinder and dial needles.

While the leg portion .of the sock It may be knit on any type ofknitting machine without materially affecting the present invention, asthe latter is concerned primarily with the knitting of the cuff II, inthe preferred embodiment shown in Figure 1 the leg portion II will beknit on the same single feed ribber, as is the cuff il.

As shown in Figure 1, after the cult H is knit a transfer is made overto the knitting of the foot portion, the transfer line being indicatedat l2.

Referring now more particularly to Figure 2, one course of regularstitches is represented by the plain white band, and is referred to bythe reference character X. A course of stitches, including tuckstitches, is shown in full black, and is represented by the referencecharacter Y, while a third course of regular stitches isshown by theplain white band and designated Z.

It is notable that each of the courses of regular stitches X and Zincludes rib stitches which are formed on the dial needles, and containplain stitches which are formed by the cylinder needles. However, in thecourse Y the tuck stitches are formed on the dial needles only; thecylinder needles holding the regular stitches. As the course is knit aturn of elastic, designated E is laid in behind the cylinder needles,and in front of the dial needles. Likewise, when the course of stitchesY, including the tuck stitches, are knit, the elastic is laid in behindthe cylinder needles and in front of the dial needles, and this turn ofthe elastic is represented at E 4 This same practice is followed in theformation 'of the'regular courses of stitches Z, and the elastic inlayfor the course Z is identified as E.

In the form of the invention illustrated in the drawings each thirdcourse of stitches takes the form of a course represented at Y, whichinclude the tuck stitches. Obviously the invention is not to be limitedin this respect, as a course of tuck stitches may be included for eachcourse of regular stitches, or for any desired number of courses ofregular stitches.

Figure 3 develops the condition of the cuff after a course like X hasbeen ravelled back. In this condition it will be noted that both of theelastic turns E and E are free to be withdrawn from the stitches, asthis elasticis merely laid in between the stitches formed on thecylinder needles and the stitches formed on the dial needles.

However, a ravelling back of the course Z, which includes the stitches,will not permit of any elastic being withdrawn, both E and E beingremoved as noted above, as it will be necessary to ravel back the courseY before the elastic turn represented at E could be withdrawn.

It is evident that the pitch of the helix defined by the elastic inlay Eis very small, and as a result this elastic is laid in under very lighttension, which is followed by improved results in the finished cuff, asthe latter will snugly grip the leg of a wearer without any discomfortor marring effects.

Referring now more particularly to Figure '5, the cuff II is shown asapplied to a stocking 20, which is not of the rib type, but which has aplain knit fabric leg. In this view the transfer between the cuff andthe leg portion proper is indicated While the preferred-embodiment ofthe invention hereinbefore described involves the formation of the tuckstitches on the dial needles, the

invention also embraces the formation of the.

tuck stitches on the cylinder needles.

When the latter arrangement is carried out in actual practice, therewill be a course of stitches including tuck stitches formed on thecylinder needles for one, or a plurality, of courses of regularstitches.

It is evident from the foregoing that the tuck stitches can be formed oneither the cylinder and dial needles, as occasion demands, or the tuckstitches can be formed on both the cylinder and dial needles.

While a preferred specific embodiment of the invention is hereinbeforeset forth, it is to be clearly understood that I am not to be limited tothe exact constructions illustrated and described, because variousmodifications of these details may be provided in putting the inventioninto practice within the purview of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A circular knit stocking having a rib top and .out said top, the ribstitches inany given course being either all regular or all tuck, and aspiral elastic thread inlaid between the plain and rib wales throughoutsaid top.

2. A circular knit ribbed stocking top comprising rib wales and plainwales; each rib wale comprising regular stitches and tuck stitches inalternation throughout said top, the rib stitches in any given coursebeing either all regular or all tuck, and a continuous elastic threadinlaid between the plain and rib wales throughout said top.

JOHN LOYN MARSHALL.

